Garofalo apologizes after NBA tweet criticized

A state representative whose tweet Sunday about the NBA has drawn national criticism apologized Monday, calling it "my poor attempt at being funny."

He said it unfairly painted all players as lawless but that he didn't intend it as racist.

"I take back my entire tweet. I completely apologize. It was not my intent to criticize those who were not worthy of criticism. If I felt the need to comment on this issue, it would have been more appropriate to focus on the individual actions of specific individuals," said Rep. Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington, in a meeting with reporters outside a committee meeting room.

Garofalo posted this tweet about 4:30 p.m. Sunday:

"Let's be honest, 70% of teams in NBA could fold tomorrow + nobody would notice a difference w/ possible exception of increase in streetcrime.

"

The first person to respond tweeted, "The racial and racist undertones in this comment is beyond alarming."

That reaction was shared by others including ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith, who said Monday he was "very uncomfortable" with Garofalo's remarks.

Coverage of the tweet appeared on Web sites including Gawker, Buzzfeed, Sportingnews and Deadspin.

At the same time, more than 150 people "favorited" the comment and 1,500 people retweeted it by noon Monday.

Garofalo said Monday he had received one death threat in connection with the tweet. He declined to describe the threat and said he does not have additional security protection as a result of it.

Garofalo said this was "not the way I envisioned my name ever going across on a crawl on ESPN when I'm running on the treadmill.

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"I don't have a racist bone in my body. I pride myself on the fact that I've tutored in inner-city Minneapolis and in addition have been a strong advocate for the charter schools in our communities. But there's no excuses. I apologize. I'm responsible for my actions and just want to promise everybody I'll do my best to not make that mistake again."

In addition to painting all players with a broad brush of criminality, he said, he also erred in saying the NBA did not test for marijuana.

Garofalo did not make an apology on the floor of the House Monday afternoon.

He did apologize privately to his fellow Republican lawmakers, according to House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, R-Crown.

Daudt said he told Garofalo he was disappointed with the tweet. He said he did not necessarily think it would lead to an ethics complaint.

House Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, seemed to agree.

"I was grateful that Representative Garofalo issued an apology," she said. "I don't know that there's any other action being taken."

A five-term state representative, Garofalo said Monday he is still running for re-election.Garofalo initially stuck by his words even after they drew hundreds of negative comments, insisting they were misinterpreted. About three-fourths of the NBA's players are black, according to a 2013 report card from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport.

But Garofalo said Monday that after reflection he realized he'd been wrong. He mentioned one email in particular from a mom who talked about the impact of stereotyping on her children. He also said he thought about former Timberwolf Malik Sealy, who was killed in 2000 by a drunken driver, as an example of someone who didn't deserve to be lumped into a general category of player misconduct.

Sunday's blunt Twitter commentary was nothing new for Garofalo, who regularly makes sharp-tongued speeches on the Minnesota House floor and even edgier remarks online.

"If the bird watching, hippy, tofu-eating vegan liberals in Minneapolis had their way, the Iron Range never would have mined taconite either," he tweeted last month, referring to a statewide debate over a copper-nickel mine project proposed for northern Minnesota.

Despite his tendency for partisan rhetoric, Garofalo departed from conservative orthodoxy on at least one major issue. Last year, he was one of four House Republicans who voted in favor of legalizing gay marriage.

He also has backed stadium initiatives for the Twin Cities' professional sports teams, voting in favor of both the Minnesota Vikings and Minnesota Twins stadium bills. The Vikings bill also gave the city of Minneapolis clearance to upgrade the arena where the state's NBA team -- the Minnesota Timberwolves -- play.

The last time a Timberwolves player ran into legal trouble was in 2010, when Michael Beasley, who's now with the Miami Heat, was ticketed in a Twin Cities suburb for speeding and possessing marijuana.

Garofalo is the second Minnesota legislator in the last year whose tweets attracted national attention and accusations of racism. In June, Rep. Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley, apologized and deleted a tweet that referred to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as "Uncle Thomas" following a major ruling on the nation's landmark voting rights law.

Kristi Belcamino and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Doug Belden can be reached at 651-228-5136. Follow him at twitter.com/dbeldenpipress.